Cowgirl Dreamer (Dalton Boys Book 10)

by Em Petrova

  If the wind was right, he would have heard every word. But since it was blowing in her face, that was unlikely.

  A warm knot tightened in her guts as she acknowledged his eyes on her. One thumb was hitched in the front pocket of his jeans and he wore his shirt untucked this morning, since it was their time off.

  The undone appearance made him look even more rugged. The bad boy couldn’t get away with being so tough once he showed off those dimples, though.

  She stared back without apology, looking her fill as he did her.

  The dinner bell rang, but it wasn’t even dinner yet. Noble’s head jerked toward the sound, and she jumped up, crossing to where he stood in long strides.

  “Trouble?” she said.

  “Gotta be. C’mon.”

  They took off for the bunkhouse, where Vin stood outside near the dinner bell he’d just rung to call them all inside. Only four other guys had answered the call, all looking tense.

  “Got some fence broken up along the east corner. Some of the herd escaped.”

  “Who found it?” Noble asked.

  “Langtry took a ride up there for pleasure and saw it. He’s alerting Blackburn right now,” Vin answered.

  “Do we go after them?”

  “Yeah, we’ll have to take what men we have left on the ranch and spread out, cover all the territory we can while the others do a head count.”

  Minutes later, they were all saddled up with Noble and Gracie in charge of the count while two others from the group herded the cattle their way, and the rest went on a reconnaissance mission to collect the escapees.

  “Forty-nine,” Noble said.

  “No, fifty. You counted wrong.”

  “Dammit, we can’t count differently, woman.”

  “Then get it right,” she snapped. “Go over and count that group right while I stall the riders from sending more our way.”

  “So dang bossy,” Noble muttered but moved off.

  A few minutes later, he rode back. One glance at his burning face and clenched jaw and she knew she’d been right about the number.

  She gave him a smile and resumed her duty, counting the rest that moved her way.

  “That’s it,” she said as the last passed her.

  “That leaves nine missin’,” Noble said.

  She drew her brows together. “You mean eight.”

  “No, there’s supposed to be 152 in this herd.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not right. We added the new cows to the herd, remember?”

  “That’s countin’ the new ones. The herd was split and half driven to the north pasture two days ago.”

  “I don’t think you’re as aware of what goes on around here as you think, Watkins.”

  He opened his mouth to retort, but Vin came over the rise at that moment, driving three more ahead of him.

  Gracie and Noble each spouted off a different number for the head count and then glared at each other.

  “If you’re gonna make it here, you’d better get your shit together, Watkins.”

  “And you’d better learn to work with others and admit when you’re wrong, Dalton.”

  His emphasis on her name gave her a shiver that had nothing to do with his words and everything to do with the heat of his voice.

  “What’s the count?” Vin asked, drawing up near them.

  “We can’t agree,” Noble said at once.

  Vin narrowed his eyes. “Count ’em again. We gotta know the true number.” He leveled his stare at Noble and then Gracie. “Find a way to work together. There’s no room for fightin’ on this ranch.”

  He rode off, leaving Gracie feeling like she’d just caught hell from an uncle.

  Vin was right—she might be fighting for her permanent position here but to achieve it, she had to do the job right, preferably on the first try.

  She flicked her head toward the herd. “We gotta circle them back around and do the count again,” she said to Noble.

  He seemed to have drawn the same conclusion as she had. With a grunt, he sent his horse lurching toward the herd.

  This time they both came out with a different number from their first—but the same one in the end. 157 head of cattle, including the ones Vin had recovered, and they were still missing four. Seemed they’d both been wrong.

  After the afternoon spent recovering the rest and moving them to another pasture until the fence could be repaired, they headed back to the ranch. Gracie lagged behind, not in any hurry to return and get her ass chewed.

  When she noticed Noble had started drifting back to join her, she stiffened. She ended up riding alongside him.

  “We both screwed that up,” he said.

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t you think you should apologize then?”

  She gaped at him, too shocked to do more than open and close her mouth for a moment. Then the words burst from her. “For what?”

  “For bein’ so stubborn.”

  “You were just as stubborn!”

  He reined up and so did she, allowing the others to circle the property out of sight.

  They faced each other.

  “I’ve never met anyone so annoying in my life as you, Noble,” she shot out.

  He settled his stare on her before sliding off his saddle and to the ground. He stood there, reins in hand, staring up at her.

  She swung off her mount too and faced him.

  He let go of his reins, and so did she.

  Then he reached for her.

  She threw herself at him.

  The crush of his mouth over hers was bruising, all-consuming… and the hottest thing she’d ever experienced in her life. He pressed his thumb into the point of her chin and tipped her head back where he wanted it, slanting his mouth over hers as she grabbed at his shoulders for purchase.

  Need exploded through her system, taking over every thought pattern that might have reminded her this was a terrible idea to be kissing him back.

  Noble made a low sound in his throat, and she felt the rumble of his chest against her breasts. She parted her lips, and he plunged his tongue inside without restraint.

  Just like she knew he would. The man was incapable of holding back.

  Trouble was, so was she.

  He fed her his tongue, and she swiped hers over his, earning her a deep groan. Wiggling closer, she pasted herself to his firm body with not so much as a pang of regret.

  He moved his hands to cup her face, cradling it with such gentleness that she automatically slowed the kiss to savor it. When she ran her hands over his broad shoulders to scuff her knuckles over his jaw, she thought she’d combust with desire.

  The roughness of his beard beneath her fingertips and the callused brush of his hands on her cheeks was so damn perfect.

  And she hadn’t even known she’d been looking for it till now.

  * * * * *

  Noble couldn’t get enough of Gracie’s lips, tongue and her body pressed against his. His cock throbbed to find a path even closer to her, and the way she was rubbing her breasts against his chest told him how affected she was as well.

  He rubbed his thumbs up and down her jawline, learning the shape of her even as he went in for more of her taste. Thrusting his tongue into her mouth, burning at the heat she gave off, he hauled her closer with a hand on her lower back.

  She was damp from perspiration, but so was he, and by his guess, they could make one hell of a sweaty fun ride together.

  Breathing hard but not wanting to let her go even a fraction away from him, he tore his lips free. Their noses brushed, and she nuzzled him.

  The woman actually nuzzled him.

  Jesus, she was all feminine wiles under her toughened leather exterior. He’d known it all along.

  “Gracie,” he heard himself say.

  “Why do you just say my name like that?” she whispered, eyelashes dipping over those baby blues he couldn’t look into enough.

  “It’s the same thing that beats through my brain hour after ho
ur, day after day. I’ve tried to get rid of it, but I can’t.” His words came out as hot as a branding iron plunged into the flames.

  “Makes you sound mentally unstable,” she said in a breathy rasp.

  He chuckled, moving in for another kiss. Leave it to her to insult him between wild kisses. Their mouths meshed for long minutes. He tipped her head to get closer, deeper, and she knocked his hat to the ground to sink her fingers into his hair.

  He bent at the knees, yanking her down with him. They tumbled into the grasses, out of sight of the others unless they rode up on them, and their horses ignoring them both for food.

  Half rolling atop her, Noble bent his mouth to her throat, tasting salt and sweet vanilla.

  “Your smell drives me wild,” he moaned out.

  She swallowed hard. “I can hardly sleep knowing you’re above me.”

  He pushed away enough to look into her eyes. All the pent-up need for her he’d been experiencing for weeks came to a head—a hard, throbbing one—and he claimed her lips as his once more.

  * * * * *

  Gracie must have lost her mind. Or she’d fallen and suffered a concussion and this was some sort of dream state. She couldn’t be lying in a field, tangled up with Noble. And his tongue most definitely was not flipping over hers right this very second.

  But that sound coming from her throat was definitely hers—and the solid feel of his weight atop her was real too.

  She dragged her fingers from his hair, over his nape and to his spine, holding him to her. She’d made out plenty of times but never felt anything that came close to this.

  Those times he’d stood too close to her, the heavy looks they’d exchanged… all of it was bone-deep animal attraction.

  “God, I want more of this. I want to touch you, kiss you all over,” he rumbled against her throat.

  Shudders of need ran over her body. “We’d tear each other apart.”

  He yanked back to pierce her in his stare. “That’s what I’m hopin’ for, darlin’.”

  She arched up to capture his hard mouth again, and they rolled. She didn’t need his help in finding the best fit of her body over his, but he latched onto her hips and helped her anyway. They shared a primal groan as his erection pressed against her pussy through their jeans.

  She rubbed on him wantonly, and he groaned low.

  “Jesus, help me, I want you so much,” he ground out.

  She dropped her head forward, her long braid falling over one shoulder to slither across his broad biceps. “We can’t.”

  “Come to me tonight. On the hill.”

  She shook her head. “This has to end here.” Even as she said the words, she knew they weren’t true. She didn’t know how to stop at anything she did, let alone something that felt as good as touching and kissing Noble.

  He tightened his clasp on her hips as if she meant to move off him. “Come to me tonight on our hill.”

  “Our hill?” She cocked a brow.

  He gave her a heart-stopping grin, dimples and all. “I’ve thought of it as ours since the first time I saw you there. Gracie.”

  God, she loved how he said her name, just those two syllables and nothing else. A shiver slid over her, and he moaned in response, rolling her again, cradling her head as she met the ground.

  His eyes were shiny with desire and something she read as joy. Was that what he was seeing in her eyes as well?

  They had to stop this. Now.

  “Noble, we can’t do this. It will screw everything up.”

  “For them?” he asked about the others.

  “For us.”

  He pressed her down with his hips, doing a sexy as hell push-up over her as he nibbled at her lips. “To hell with it all. You know it’s right too. Tell me you don’t feel it.”

  She couldn’t utter the lie. But she couldn’t agree to visit the hill in the darkest hours either. Pushing against his chest, she met his stare.

  “Please don’t turn me away,” he murmured.

  The words made her swallow a lump that suddenly closed off her throat. “Noble…”

  “Gracie.”

  Her eyes closed on her name. When she opened them again, she saw another light shining in his eyes.

  It was hope.

  He knew he’d worn her down and she’d meet him on the hill. Our hill.

  She was in so much trouble.

  Chapter Six

  Noble’s body was on high alert. Every little night sound was amplified to his hearing, and it went deeper into his bones. A small animal rustling in the grasses, a hoot of an owl drifting to him on the night breeze.

  The knoll offered a view of the big Texas sky unlike any he’d seen—rich black velvet spangled with stars like diamonds. Between that and the grasses releasing their sweet fragrances into the night air, it was the perfect place for seduction.

  He’d been hard every minute since he’d put his hands on Gracie. God, that woman… she was gonna kill him.

  His lips quirked up in a crooked smile.

  Waiting on her was giving him a complex, though. Would she show? There was a good possibility she’d stand him up, and then he’d have to deal with not only the hit to his ego, but his heart was definitely in a vulnerable state.

  When had he last wanted a woman like he wanted her? Never was the answer. She was strong, sassy, smart and capable. And sexy as hell. All those things wrapped into the perfect woman in his mind, not only girlfriend material but a true partner.

  For a while now, he’d had a hunch that together, they’d make one hell of an unstoppable team, no matter what direction they chose to go.

  But he’d been waiting half an hour now with no sign of her, which meant he might end up sitting up here all night with only his imagination as company.

  Plucking a blade of grass, he stuck it into the corner of his mouth to suck on. The taste of living things reminded him of summers past spent helping the neighbors on their ranches. It reminded him of his reason for being here and gave him a wallop of homesickness all at the same time.

  A light swishing noise reached his ears, and he turned his head to the side, straining to hear. When it grew closer and louder, he knew it wasn’t just the wind. He twisted and stood, his heart hitting his chest wall hard as he set eyes on his girl.

  Hell, she was gorgeous. The fluid way she moved, long legs carrying her up the hill to him without slowing, her hair loose around her shoulders and falling to her elbows.

  His throat was tight when he went to swallow, and he had to try a second time. He took off toward her, hand out, which she took.

  Her warm fingers wrapping around his sent need through his body, but most of all, it stroked over his heart.

  She stepped up to within a foot of him, and he closed the gap without a word, cupping her face in his hands and bringing his lips down over hers. The first touch roused a gasp from her, and he answered with a growl of his own.

  Angling his head, he drank from her, a soft meeting of lips and tongues. After only seconds, it grew more intense. He plastered a hand to her spine, hitching her against his body just to feel her tremble for him.

  With a rasp, she pulled back. Staring at him, her eyes glimmering in the moonlight. “We have to slow down.” Of course she was the voice of reason.

  Or she doesn’t want me the way I want her.

  Shoving the thought from his mind, he gave a nod and took her by the hand to lead her to the crest of the hill. He sank and she followed, her hip against his. When she looked out over the scenic view, he gazed at her profile.

  That lump was back in his throat.

  “Who knew the sky was so big here?” she whispered.

  His breaths came faster. “I didn’t. From down at the main ranch, you can’t see all this.” He didn’t look away from her face.

  She turned to meet his gaze. “Maybe we need to talk.”

  “We do plenty of talking during the days.”

  She huffed out a laugh. “That’s not talking—it’s bickering. And y
ou do plenty of grunting.”

  He did it now, and she let out a high, clear laugh. He grinned. “I s’pose I do. My father gives me hell for it all the time, but it’s a habit, I guess, when I don’t know what else to say.”

  “My cousins and uncles do it a lot too. It’s like their own language.”

  “I bet that’s intimidating, having all those Dalton men for relatives.”

  Her smile softened her face. God, he just wanted to touch her—everywhere—and kiss those sweet lips till the first rays of light hit the sky.

  “My family’s not so bad,” she said.

  “Bet they wouldn’t like me.”

  She tipped her head, contemplating him. “They’re only short-tempered with people who are careless with cattle or other people. You’re not that.”

  “I do believe that’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me.”

  “I don’t hear you showering me with compliments either.”

  “Let me fix that.” He grabbed her around the waist with one arm and hauled her across his lap. She gulped out in surprise, and he crushed her to his chest, staring down into her eyes. “Gracie. You’re so good at what you do on this ranch that you’ve even got the veteran cowpokes sweating for their jobs.”

  Her jaw dropped.

  “You’re also stubborn to the extreme at times, hard-headed and—”

  “Are these your idea of compliments?” She shoved against his chest, but he wouldn’t let her out of his hold.

  Smiling, he brushed his lips over hers once, twice. When she settled in his grasp, he murmured against her lips, “You’re the best kisser of all of us.”

  That had her tossing her head back on a laugh. He couldn’t resist—he swooped in and kissed her open mouth. The instant their tongues met, it was all over for him.

  She stole everything he had to give, everything he was.

  Gracie Dalton had not only roped but hogtied him.

  * * * * *

  She shifted in his arms to straddle him. The punch of desire to her gut sent shockwaves through her body. She hadn’t wanted a man this much in… well, ever. Her panties were already drenched just from a few kisses, and she knew things were about to get far more intense with Noble.